Special places archive

Picture Queensland

6,000 images from the John Oxley Library photo collection went online this month. These images show just a glimpse of the material in the State Library of Queensland’s historical collection. The library promises to add more to the online database as it continues the work of digitisation and cataloguing.

I’m delighted to see a beginning, small as it is, to this important project. I remember when the John Oxley Library’s photograph collection was on open access in the reading room in William Street. I could open a filing drawer, browse through the pictures, and make serendipitous discoveries. In 1988 the collection, still uncatalogued, moved across the river and out of sight. Ever tried asking a librarian at the counter to rummage through the photos and find something that will bring joy to my heart? Trust me, it doesn’t work. Now, with Picture Queensland, I can browse again.